Engine Warm up?

[mmranch]

-7 here this morning at 9500ft.

My tractor stays in a heated shop in winter. Block heater is plugged in awhile before starting. Idles for 10 to 30 minutes (depending on what else I'm doing). Then elevated RPM with slow hydraulic warm-up routine before I even move the tractor. Then it's full RPM and to work.

So far...so good!

 

[RalphVa]

The VW TDI never had any warmup requirement. Just started it up in all kinds of weather and almost immediately took off.

Only benefit I see to warming up a tractor is to maybe warm up its HST oil a bit. Use the low vis stuff, and it ought to be good to go. Just keep the revs down below 2,000 rpm for maybe the first 5 minutes. Probably be the time you need to get to where you're going to do the real work.

Use 0w or (at worst) 5wxx oil to get immediate oil throughout the engine, even in the coldest temperature. Even at -40 C/F, oil will be sent to the top end of the engine within a couple seconds. If you run 10wxx and 15wxx oils at low temperatures, your engine top end will starve for oil for probably the first 30 seconds or so, maybe more if it is really cold.

Ralph

 

[troverman]

I'm changing my tune a little bit. I bought a new L4060 HSTC this late fall, and I'm using it for plowing duties around the house. In order to get meaningful heat in the cab, the engine needs to be revved up. Oddly my MX4800 would warm up in cold weather just at idle. The L4060 has the same engine but will not warm up. It could be the heater core and longer circulation hoses are having an over-cooling affect on the engine, I don't know.

I often start it up and let it idle at 1500 RPM for 10 minutes or so, in an effort to get some heat and defrost the windshield.

My first regen was at 22 hours which is pretty low, but with this much idling it doesn't surprise me.

 

[BTDT2]

I don't strictly follow the manual's recommendations, but here they are for an L3301 (same as my L4060 and previous L3410) .
HST warmup is likely much more important in even moderate cold temps.
View attachment 614972

I find your chart very strange as my Kubota HSTC 4240 manual has a chart that starts at -10C (14 F) and a warm up time of approx 5 minutes, at -15C to -10C 5 to 10 minutes, and below -20C (-4 F) Kubota recommends more than 20 minutes in warmup time. There is no mention of idling as a part of warm up time, so I interpret warm up as a common sense approach of low power and light loads and not high power until after warmup criteria is met. I think the use of synthetic oils in extreme cold conditions also provides a huge advantage in rapid oil flow to critical parts.

 

[RalphVa]

I have a L3301 Kubota with a DPF exhaust filter. It is recommended not to idle the engine. My question is; how long do you warm up the engine on the L3301 and what rpm?

Just start it up and go as soon as the idle keeps from shuddering. That's what I always do and what we did on our VW TDI with DPF. Actually, it never shudders. Just started and pulled it out of the garage. Just don't hit it with very high rpm until you get to where you need to do some work. Tractors don't rev very highly anyway. You just hear them more readily and think they're working harder than a car/pickup. VW TDIs rev to 5,000 rpm just like a turbine. You really cannot rev your tractor engine too highly to hurt it. With HST, it can put up some fairly high pressures with cold fluid, but that is what the relief valves are in there for; aren't they?

Ralph

 

[big bubba]

seems to me whatever warm up method you choose, it's equally or more important to avoid successive cold short runs on a diesel (esp a new engine) when tasks are less than 20 minutes & the drive train does not fully warm up other than the operating coolant temp
diesels are meant to work steady & hard. imho numerous short cold runs may be harder on engines than debating warm up methods.

 

[LouNY]

Just start it up and go as soon as the idle keeps from shuddering. That's what I always do and what we did on our VW TDI with DPF. Actually, it never shudders. Just started and pulled it out of the garage. Just don't hit it with very high rpm until you get to where you need to do some work. Tractors don't rev very highly anyway. You just hear them more readily and think they're working harder than a car/pickup. VW TDIs rev to 5,000 rpm just like a turbine. You really cannot rev your tractor engine too highly to hurt it. With HST, it can put up some fairly high pressures with cold fluid, but that is what the relief valves are in there for; aren't they?

Ralph

Enjoy running your equipment your way. It is not the way mine has been or will be run.

In cold weather (below 30F) every engine gets at least a minute, car, truck, tractor, lawn mower, even the chainsaw gets a warmup before it gets used.
The colder it gets the longer it goes, every radiator gets covered when it gets colder, that it not so much for the radiators as it is the associated coolers stacked in front of or behind the radiators.
If the hydraulics moan when using them it gets a few more minutes and unloaded exercise. They are not being warmed up at low idle once started the idle is slowly bumped up to 1200-1500 rpm whatever that piece of equipment feels the best at. This doesn't matter if its gas or diesel. Back when it was a propane tractor it had to be warmed up on the bypass till it had water heat for the vaporizer.

So different strokes for different folks, I will continue to advocate for warming up equipment.
PS. I also run synthetic lubricates ad have since the mid to later 70's.

 

[K5lwq]

Enjoy running your equipment your way. It is not the way mine has been or will be run.

In cold weather (below 30F) every engine gets at least a minute, car, truck, tractor, lawn mower, even the chainsaw gets a warmup before it gets used.
The colder it gets the longer it goes, every radiator gets covered when it gets colder, that it not so much for the radiators as it is the associated coolers stacked in front of or behind the radiators.
If the hydraulics moan when using them it gets a few more minutes and unloaded exercise. They are not being warmed up at low idle once started the idle is slowly bumped up to 1200-1500 rpm whatever that piece of equipment feels the best at. This doesn't matter if its gas or diesel. Back when it was a propane tractor it had to be warmed up on the bypass till it had water heat for the vaporizer.

So different strokes for different folks, I will continue to advocate for warming up equipment.
PS. I also run synthetic lubricates ad have since the mid to later 70's.

This is the best answer!

My grandfather, every morning around 7am, would start is old car and hold the pedal to the metal for 1 minuet exactly. We told him many times that was a bad idea. However, he got away with that for many years. In fact, that is how we found out he had passed. The Neighbors knew something was wrong when they did not hear his old car.

My brother inherited his car and the old 327 came apart on him within 2 weeks. :laughing:

 

[ovrszd]

Enjoy running your equipment your way. It is not the way mine has been or will be run.

In cold weather (below 30F) every engine gets at least a minute, car, truck, tractor, lawn mower, even the chainsaw gets a warmup before it gets used.
The colder it gets the longer it goes, every radiator gets covered when it gets colder, that it not so much for the radiators as it is the associated coolers stacked in front of or behind the radiators.
If the hydraulics moan when using them it gets a few more minutes and unloaded exercise. They are not being warmed up at low idle once started the idle is slowly bumped up to 1200-1500 rpm whatever that piece of equipment feels the best at. This doesn't matter if its gas or diesel. Back when it was a propane tractor it had to be warmed up on the bypass till it had water heat for the vaporizer.

So different strokes for different folks, I will continue to advocate for warming up equipment.
PS. I also run synthetic lubricates ad have since the mid to later 70's.

I agree.

The DEF JD Grader that I run needs considerably more warm up than it's pre-DEF predecessor. Worst part with the Grader is it's cooling efficiency. All of the coolers are separated and not stacked. The engine will warm up due to the thermostat. I struggle to get the hydraulics and trans fluid warm. I run hydraulics constantly during the 3 or 4 minutes of warm up to try to get some warmth. Everything functions a bit "stiff" for the first 15 minutes of operation. I don't like that period. I'm gentle with the machine until all of the fluid temps are up into the operating range.

 

[dodge man]

I have never been a fan of long warm ups. I let my tractor warm up a minute or two and my truck just 10 seconds or so. On frosty mornings I let my truck warm up longer because I am to lazy to scrap the windows.